Soul Shaking

Ask for a side of ketchup with any of the Southern-inspired dishes at Zanzibar Soul Fusion, and you're sure to upset head chef Tony Fortner. "We consider ketchup an insult to the actual food," he says. "We want you to enjoy the flavor already there." Take Zanzibar's walleye cakes ($14.95), the new Shaker Square spot's spin on traditional crab cakes. Fortner pairs walleye, chosen because of its king fish presence in Northeast Ohio, with red peppers, fire roasted until they release natural sugars and give each cake a kick of sweetness. A secret tangy citrus sauce finishes each bite. "We wanted to do something different and offer something you couldn't get anywhere else," says Fortner, who adds Asian flavor to many of his dishes, such as in the accompanying Thai ginger mayo. "Our restaurant is soul food fused with cuisines across every region."